Every 6th smoker in UP trying to quit

Every sixth smoker in Uttar Pradesh is trying hard to give up smoking, says a study published in the British Medical Journal. The study has evaluated “Trends in beedi and cigarette smoking in India from 1998 to 2015 by age gender and education”. According to anti-tobacco activist Bobby Ramakant, smokers quit only when they see its ills from close quarters. “Different surveys suggest that people quit either on seeing a close relative suffer with diseases like cancer, COPD or cardiac ailments or because they have faced trouble themselves and have survived,” he pointed out. Medical experts say that there are an estimated 40 lakh smokers in Uttar Pradesh at present. Research also showed that only 1.1 per cent smokers quit in 2004 but prevalence of ex-smokers increased to 5.9 per cent by 2010 and is now over six per cent. “There are now as many ex-smokers as smokers. Countries which adopted tobacco control earlier (including through tax increases) now have substantially higher prevalence of quitting,” the study said.

Doctors at cessation clinic in King George’s Medical University said that the number of people wanting to quit smoking had gone up in the past decade.

“The clinic began with just 10-odd patients per month but now attends to at least 50 cases every month”, said a medical officer.